Fourth Grade - Mrs. Bentz

Curriculum Highlights

Christ-Light: Christ-Light studies the major stories of the Bible in chronological order. The study alternates between Old Testament and New Testament stories. Applying the lessons of these stories to the lives of the students is a very important part of this class. The study of Christian hymns is also part of this class.

Math: Saxon Math is used throughout Illinois Lutheran Elementary School. Highlights of the Grade 4 curriculum include extensive work with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Special attention is also put on fractions, decimals, place value, and measurement. Word problems are a part of our daily practice as well.

Reading: The study of reading in Grade 4 continues on the reading skills built in earlier grades. A variety of fiction and non-fiction resources are used to teach skills such as story elements, main idea and details, author’s purpose and point of view. Strategies to improve comprehension are also studied. Spelling/vocabulary words from the reading selections help students increase their personal vocabulary.

English: Grade 4 English continues building on the skills of students learned in earlier grades. Work with the six basic parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, and preposition) is extensive. The steps of writing including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and publishing are practiced. Writing topics include personal narratives, stories, instructions, persuasion paragraphs, and research reports.

Science: Grade 4 science continues studying the three basic areas of science: earth science, life science, and physical science. Earth science stresses study of the solar system, rocks, water and weather. Physical science focuses on matter, energy, electricity, magnetism, and motion. The main areas in life science include the study of plants and animals.

Social Studies: During Grade 4, the students focus on the United States of America.The five regions, Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West sections of the country, are studied. A brief history and geography study accompanies each region of the U.S.A. Reading various maps, time lines, and graphs is also included. Location of states and capitals are practiced with map quizzes.

Fine Arts: In music the Grade 4 students have the opportunity to experience personal musical performance and basic musicianship skills including notation and theory. During the Grade 4 art class students experience both two and three-dimensional projects using multiple different media. This includes studying the elements of art and the principles of design. The physical education class for Grade 4 concentrates on helping students build life-long fitness skills as well as using several sports to develop an understanding of rules, self-control, and physical coordination. These sports include soccer, jump rope, basketball, volleyball, and softball.